Brahma, the Indian god of creation is not a popularly worshipped deity unlike Shiva and Vishnu the other two gods of the trinity. But Brahma is popular among the Brazilians. Hmm..Not as a god but as a brand of beer. Brahma is advertised in posters, bill boards and media all over Brazil. The company which produces this beer was established in 1888 with the name Companhia Cervejaria Brahma (Brahma beer company). Brahma beer is an essential ingredient for the spirit of Brazilians, known as 'happy go lucky', 'beach-loving', 'football-crazy', 'samba-singing' and 'carnival-parading' colorful, cheerful and playful people.
Most Brazilians who imbibe Brahma beer do not know that Brahma is the name of an Indian God. It was also true of Janderson Fernandes de Oliveira from Sao Paulo. After the age of thirty three years, Janderson has stopped drinking Brahma beer and opted for Ganga Jal (Ganges water) chanting the name of Brahma and other gods. He came to India for honeymoon but ended up embracing celibacy. He has taken to Indian spiritualism and become a Guru in the spiritual capital Rishikesh with the name Sri Prem Baba. He says, "One does not choose to become a Guru. One is chosen". He was, indeed, chosen as the successor by Hans Raj Maharajji Sachcha Baba, head of the Sachcha Dham ashram in Rishikesh in 2011. Maharajji declared," A new saint brings a new message". Prem Baba is proud to be a son of the Sachcha lineage.
Janderson visited India for the first time in 1999 with his wife for honeymoon. They travelled to many touristic and spiritual places. But the young couple got a cultural shock, like most other western tourists. The poverty, unhygienic conditions, dust, noise and crowds made India as an uncomfortable and strange world for the newly married couple. They even thought of cutting short the trip and getting back to Brazil. But someone suggested a visit to Rishikesh. While travelling from Haridwar to Rishikesh in an old Ambassador car, Janderson got a new sensation. A wave of divine love and light flooded him. Filled with an intense happiness, he began singing. He had a premonition that he was finally in the right road to fulfill the mission of his life. He had audience with Sri Hans Raj Maharajji of the Sachcha Dam ashram in Rishikesh. He realized that the old man with the white beard who had invited him to Rishikesh in his recurrent dreams since adolescence was none other than Maharajji himself. He fell on the Indian Guru's feet and surrendered himself. Maharajji smiled and said that he was expecting this moment. Janderson wanted to ask him many questions but the questions disappeared overcome by a profound silence and a new energy. He felt as though his search was over and had received answers to all his questions about life. After three years of learning and apprenticeship in the ashram, he reached ' self-realisation about his purpose in life', got 'illumination' and had experienced 'communion with God'. He went to Ganges river, dipped his feet in the water, meditated and prayed. He heard Mother Ganges saying to him, "See how free I am and unattached to anything ". He felt an ecstasy again. When he went back, Maharajji told him, ' Now you are a Guru. You are free to teach as you like" and named him Prem Baba. Just before his death in October 2011, Hans Raj Maharajji nominated Prem Baba as his successor in the line of the Sachcha ashram tradition and passed on the 'Gurumantra' to him.
Prem Baba has given a Brazilian touch to Indian spiritualism with emphasis on 'love' to resonate with his name Prem which means love. The Brazilians are curious and excited with the 'Brasileiro que virou Guru' (the Brazilian who has turned into a Guru) and who can teach the Indian wisdom through their own language and with a Brazilian perspective. In his lectures in Brazil, Prem Baba goes beyond the spiritual and refers to the political, economic, environmental and social issues and the recent crisis of Brazil. He has established two large Sachcha mission ashrams in Brazil. One is located in Nazare Paulista, a small town about 80 km from Sao Paulo city. The other one is near Alto Paraiso, 200 km from Brasilia. There are other centres in Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza and other parts of Brazil. The Baba has many celebrity followers in Brazil. Prem Baba's rise as a Guru has taken Brazilian interest in Indian spiritualism to a new level. Thanks to him, Rishikesh is receiving more Brazilian and Latin American visitors.
Prem Baba spends two or three months every year during winter months in India mainly in Rishikesh. In 2017, he will be there from 2 February to 15 March. His daily programme includes meditation, chanting of mantras, yoga and sat sang. Many Indians throng to Prem Baba, curious about the Brazilian way of interpreting Indian Sachcha (truth).
The Baba has gone global and joined the jet-set Guru circuit, supported by wealthy people around the world. His Awaken Love Movement and Path of the Heart Institutes have centres in fourteen countries which include US, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Argentina and Spain. It is a new experience for non-Brazilian foreigners to be taught Indian spiritualism through Portuguese language spoken by a Brazilian Baba. He speaks only in Portuguese and his speeches are translated into English and other languages.
Prem Baba's teachings include 'may love awaken in everyone', 'reconnecting with yourself', 'ABC of spirituality' and 'experiencing your truth'. He has his own brand 'Path of the Heart' method of self-knowledge, in which he gives courses. He combines Indian spiritualism with western psychology. Besides explaining the mysteries of existence, he gives advice for day to day life such as how to control anger and envy, how to develop one's talents and maintain relationships. He supports the Clean Ganga project and Clean Rio Tiete ( Tiete river going through Sao paulo city also needs cleaning up) and other environmental and educational projects.
He has authored three books: 'Love and be free', ' From suffering to joy', 'purpose: the courage to be who we are'. He has a blog, twitter account, facebook page, youtube, Instagram and websites sriprembaba.org and pathheart.org.
Janderson was born in 1965 in Sao Paulo city in a lower middle class family. Even as a child, he started having visions and profound thoughts. At the age of fourteen, he went to yoga classes where he heard Indian prayer songs in Sanskrit. He used to get dreams in which a wise old white bearded man from the Himalayas telling him,' when you reach the age of thirty three, come to India, to Rishikesh'. He took up a job as office boy in a slaughter house from the age of 14 to 19. Therafter he started a yoga school and practiced alternative therapies. In 2003, he got a degree in clinical psychology from the University of Sao Paulo. At this time he had many students and followers but still felt as though he was a blind person guiding other blind people. He had studied many spiritual schools of thought including shamanism from the Brazilian jungles but did not get the answers to his questions. When he was 33, he went through an existential crisis. In 1999, he married Mara Regina Caccia from Sao Paulo city. He changed her name to Prem Mukti Mayi and named his daughter as Nuyth Ananda. Prem Baba is now separated from his wife and is a celibate.
Brazil, the largest catholic country in the world, has several thousands of followers of Sai Baba, Art of Living, Hare Krishna, Brahma Kumaris and other major and minor Indian spiritual groups. There is an active Ramakrishna vedanta mission centre in Sao Paulo city (with branches in other parts of Brazil) which is headed by a Tamil-speaking Swami Nirmalatmananda, who gives discourses in fluent Portuguese. The Hare Krishna temple in the Novo Gokula community near Pindamonhangaba ( 150 km from Sao Paulo city towards Rio de Janeiro) has one of the most beautiful settings in the world, similar to the pastoral scenery depicted in the Krishna tales of India. It is located in the midst of a forest and on the side of a stream with hills around. It is a perfect spot for meditation; serene and quiet except for the sounds of water rushing through the pebbles, the chirping of birds and the rustling of the leaves in the breeze. Yoga and meditation have become mainstream activities even among young Brazilians. Ayurveda is also becoming popular in Brazil as an alternative medical treatment. Palas Atena, a reputed NGO in Sao Paulo offers courses in Indian philosophy besides propagating Gandhian thoughts and methods of non-violence. There are a few Brazilians who perform and teach Indian music and dance. There is a Catholic priest (of Indian origin) Father Joachim Andrade who dances and teaches Bharatha Natyam in Curitiba city.
Prem Baba is the first Brazilian and Latin American to become an Indian Guru. Although many Latin Americans have become teachers of Indian spiritualism, no one has reached the highest level as Sri Prem Baba who is building a fascinating bridge between the spiritual Rishikesh and the sensual Rio de Janeiro.
